• Bob Costas on gun control comments: 'Availability of guns makes mayhem easier'

    NBC Sports' Bob Costas speaks out in this exclusive interview with Lawrence O'Donnell about his Sunday night comments on the gun culture of America and the murder-suicide committed by Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher.

    By Kari Huus and Isolde Raftery, NBC News

    NBC Sports commentator Bob Costas on Tuesday expanded on comments he made Sunday about the need for gun control in the wake of the murder-suicide of an NFL player.


    "What I was talking about here – and I’m sorry if that wasn’t clear to everybody – was a gun culture," Costas said on MSNBC’s “Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell,” referring to comments he made during his weekly half-time slot on NBC's Sunday Night Football. "I never mentioned the Second Amendment. I never used the words gun control. People inferred that. Now, do I believe that we need more comprehensive and sensible gun control? Yes I do. That doesn’t mean repeal the Second Amendment."

     

    Costas sparked a firestorm when he read from a column written by Fox Sports columnist Jason Whitlock, saying: "If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today."

    Belcher, a Kansas City Chiefs linebacker, shot and killed his 22-year-old girlfriend Kasandra Perkins on Saturday, before fatally shooting himself. The gun he used was registered legally, police confirmed on Monday. 

    Related: Report: Belcher shot girlfriend then kissed her forehead

    Following Costas's comments, social media sites lit up as people sided with Costas or berated him. 

    In his interview with O'Donnell, Costas emphasized a gun culture "that demonstrates itself in different ways":

    "It demonstrates itself in the Wild West, Dirty Harry mentality of people who actually believe that if a number of people were armed in the theater in Aurora, they would have been able to take down this nut-job in body armor and military-style artillery," he said. "It plays itself out in the inner cities where teenage kids are somehow armed to the hilt. And it plays itself in the sports world where young athletes are disproportionately armed." 

    Read more at The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell

    Costas relayed an anecdote relayed to him by Tony Dungy, former head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. Dungy asked 80 football players at training camp if they owned a gun. Sixty-five hands went up. 

    "Even if all those guns were obtained legally, you can’t have 65 guys in their 20s – aggressive young men subject to impulses, without something bad happening," Costas said.

    He continued: "Give me one example of an athlete – I know it’s happened in society – give me one example of an athlete by virtue of his having a gun, took a dangerous situation and turned it around for the better. I can’t think of a single one. Sadly, I can think of dozens that by virtue of having a gun, a professional athlete wound up in a tragic situation." 

    Responding to criticism that Costas didn't blame Belcher for the murder of his girlfriend: "No one is saying that Belcher is not responsible. However, the ready easy availability of guns makes mayhem easier. The easy availability of guns makes this sort of thing far more likely to occur." 

    Meanwhile Fox's Whitlock told Roland Martin of Roland Martin Reports that he hadn't gone far enough in his original commentary. He said that he took advantage of writing about gun violence in his column because so many people ignore the real world but they do pay attention to sports.  

    "I believe the NRA is the new KKK," Whitlock said. "And that the arming of so many black youths, and loading up our community with drugs, and then just having an open shooting gallery, is the work of people that obviously don’t have our best interests."

    NBC's Kari Huus and Isolde Raftery contributed to this report.

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  • Report: Belcher shot girlfriend, then kissed her forehead

    Jamie Squire / Getty Images file

    Inside linebacker Jovan Belcher of the Kansas City Chiefs watches from the sidelines during his final game against the Denver Broncos at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Miss. on Nov. 25.

    By Kari Huus, NBC News

    A detailed account of the murder and suicide by Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher published Tuesday by the Kansas City Star said that after the football player shot his girlfriend, he knelt to kiss her on the forehead and apologize before heading to the stadium where he killed himself.

    A spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department said police documents would not be released to substantiate the details laid out by veteran Star reporter Christine Vendel, but the spokesman told NBC News that "all information detailed in the KC Star report is in fact accurate."

    Belcher, 25, and his girlfriend, 22-year-old Kasandra Perkins, had been arguing about their relationship and finances, according to the Star, which reported that Belcher was out with another woman the night before he killed Perkins. It says his mother, who was living with the couple at the time, witnessed Belcher's farewell to his fatally wounded girlfriend that morning, and that he kissed three-month-old Zoey, his daughter with Perkins, and apologized again before leaving the scene.


    When Belcher arrived at the Chiefs' practice facility at Arrowhead Stadium and emerged from his car with a gun to his head, the coaches were unable to dissuade him from suicide, sources told the Star.

    According to the Star, Crennel tried to dissuade him, but Belcher said: "Guys, I have to do this."

    "I got to go," Belcher reportedly said. "I can’t be here."

    As officers approached, according to police incident reports, Belcher fired a single shot to his head. He died at a hospital.

    NBC News' Ziad Jaber contributed to this report.

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  • Details in Belcher murder-suicide emerge as families grieve

    Frank Eltman / AP

    Yamiesse Lawrence, left, and Quaresha Boston, standing next to Lawrence, a cousin and niece, respectively, of Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher, read a statement to the media in West Babylon, N.Y., on Monday.

    By NBC News and wire services

    After receiving a call about a disturbance involving an armed person, police officers arrived at the parking lot of the Kansas City Chiefs’ practice facility, where they spotted several people. Then one of the people — who turned out to be linebacker Jovan Belcher — spotted police, and moved behind a vehicle.

    "From that position Belcher shot himself one time in the head," according to one of two incident reports released by the Kansas City (Mo.) Police Department on Monday. Belcher, 25, was taken to a hospital, where he died.


    The reports begin to piece together the events around the apparent murder-suicide by the Chiefs linebacker on Saturday.

    According to the Associated Press, police hope to deliver an investigative report to prosecutors Tuesday laying out what prompted Belcher to kill his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, who was mother of his 3-month-old daughter, and himself.

     

     

    "They're moving it along just like any other case," Kansas City police Sgt. Marisa Barnes told the AP. "There's a formal process it has to go through."

    Jamie Squire / Getty Images file

    Inside linebacker Jovan Belcher of the Kansas City Chiefs watches from the sidelines during his final game, against the Denver Broncos at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., on Nov. 25.

    The other report released Monday recounts police responding to a call reporting a shooting that came in just nine minutes earlier, pointing them to the home Belcher shared with Perkins, 22. Upon arrival, they found Perkins on the floor of the master bedroom, unresponsive and suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.

    After shooting Perkins, Belcher drove his black Bentley to the practice facility, about 7 miles away, where he spoke briefly to Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, head coach Romeo Crennel and an assistant coach, before shooting himself. 

    Kansas City police spokesman Darrin Snapp confirmed that the gun was one that Belcher had purchased legally.

    Snapp also said Monday that Belcher's mother, who had been staying with the couple, was given temporary custody of the couple's daughter, Zoey, the AP reported.

    Perkins’ family released a statement Monday. They thanked the public for an outpouring of concern and support.

    "Our hearts are truly broken for Kasi was a beloved daughter, granddaughter, sister, mother, cousin and friend," the statement said. "At this time we request the media respect our privacy during this difficult time as we grieve for our loved one. Please keep us in your hearts and prayers as well as the Belcher family for two lives were lost."

    Perkins was a cousin of Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles' wife, Whitney, and it was through Whitney that she met Belcher, a friend told the AP on Sunday.

    Jamaal and Whitney Charles also released a statement.

    "Our family has suffered a personal tragic loss...." they said. "Kasandra was not only family, but a friend and a loving mother. As my actual family and my Kansas City Chiefs family have been altered forever, we ask that you keep us and most importantly their child in prayer."

    NBC News' Kari Huus contributed to this report.

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